


till someone gets hurt

by gnarleyquinn



Category: Mean Girls - Richmond/Benjamin/Fey
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, aaron gets hit by the bus au, regina and cady will maybe fall in love or some gay shit like that, they have to cry first tho, this is sad im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-02 22:36:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16313924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gnarleyquinn/pseuds/gnarleyquinn
Summary: “I’ve been hiding out in here since second period,” Regina says, “Everyonewas whispering. It was like I died and came back to life.”Cady stills.“Exceptyoudidn’t die.”oraaron dies after saving regina from the bus and gay angst ensues





	till someone gets hurt

**Author's Note:**

> tw: slight suicidal ideation (both regina and cady make brief comments), no graphic descriptions of the bus crash but things are mentioned.

Aaron is hit by the bus on a Thursday. Mr. Duvall cancels school on Friday, and when they come back on Monday they spend half the day at an assembly on “Pedestrian Safety.” No one speaks about the burn book, and Regina doesn’t show up to school for almost three weeks. Usually, Cady sits in calculus and just stares at his empty desk, the barren seat a reminder of the irreversible damage caused by petty teenage drama. She knew what Regina meant when she said that it was war, but she doesn’t think either of them took it literally. Not in the way that meant death, anyway.

Sometimes, Cady wishes that Regina had been hit. She wishes that Aaron wasn’t a good person, that he was mean and didn’t rush to push her out of the way. She wishes that the bus was just too fast, that saving her was impossible. She wishes that Aaron had survived, or that Cady could’ve seen the bus earlier,  that somehow she could have thrown _herself_ in front if it meant saving Aaron. But most of all, she wishes Regina had been hit. Regina’s arm shattered in four places as she plummeted into Cady and took them both down to the curb, but Aaron’s entire neck snapped on impact, and sometimes, she just wishes. She always hates herself afterwards.

-

She goes to see Regina the following Thursday, exactly a week after the accident, and she hadn’t meant it that way, but by second period Cady realizes she can’t go to calculus and pretend like she’s paying attention to Ms. Norbury when she watched Aaron _d_ _ie_ right in front of her. She skips class and goes straight to her guidance counselor to try and drop the class, but the world isn’t finished vomiting on her life just yet.

“There are only eight weeks left in the school year. I understand there are extenuating circumstances, but we can’t allow you to drop a class that you’re passing this late in the year.” Motivational quotes and stuffed animals that belong in an elementary school library stare at Cady, and her hands itch as she wishes.

“So if I start failing I can drop it?” She asks. She doesn’t ask with an attitude, she’s done being mean, but desperate oozes out of her voice and she can’t think of any other way out.

“If you fail, you’ll just have to take it next year, Cady. You tested out of all the other levels and you’re a junior. You need calculus to graduate.”

“But I can’t-” Cady tries to get out the words, but her vocal cords feel like they’re going to implode if she speaks another word about it and her breath is starting to catch.

“Why don’t you take a seat-”

The guidance counselor takes a step forward and all Cady can see is herself reaching out to Aaron as his body jams into the side of a yellow school bus. She clenches her fists and turns on her heels out of the small office and out of the school and into her car. She mindlessly puts it in drive and peels out of the parking lot, speeding down roads without a clue where to go. Before she even realizes where she is, she’s parked in front of Regina’s house.

Cady doesn’t know why she came, but the only car in the driveway is Regina’s, and for whatever reason that gives her the confidence to get out of her car and walk the long trek up to the front door. She knocks twice, nerves shooting through her arm and out her fingertips as she does so, and waits.

She isn’t sure what she’s expecting to the feel when the door opens, but as the handle turns and the door swings open Cady, feels a small surge of anger. The most obvious thing she notices is Regina’s arm in a sling, and she thinks the neutral colored ace bandage seems unnatural on Regina’s normally pink coated frame, but the one thing she can’t ignore is how put together Regina looks. Not a tear in her eye, and not a hair out of place. _That’s just Regina George,_ she thinks, but Cady can’t help but be reminded of the fact that she couldn’t get out of bed until Monday. That the only reason she dragged her ass to school was because she skipped so many days with the plastics that Child Services showed up at her parent’s doorstep threatening legal action. That she hadn’t slept in seven and that she hadn’t washed her hair in six. That every time she closes her eyes she sees Aaron getting squashed over and over and _over_ again.

All of this anger boils through her body, and she wants to say so many things to Regina.

_I wish it was you._

_It should have been you._

_It’s your fault he’s dead._

But even through all of the anger washing through her veins, the only thing she can get out is, “I’m sorry.”

Regina looks surprised, and Cady is too. She bites her lip and hesitates before speaking in the softest voice Cady has ever heard exit Regina’s body, “Do you want to come in?”

Cady feels like she wants to say no, but she doesn’t, instead nodding and allowing herself to move forward as Regina opens the door further. The house doesn’t feel the same way that it used to. It was an exciting part of the adventure at first, but now that it’s all said and done it just feels like another scene in a never-ending nightmare. Most of the lights are off, and as they make the slow walk up to Regina’s bedroom, Cady notices that the house feels emptier than it did before. Like Regina is no longer taking up all 7,000 square feet of the home by herself.

Cady nearly gasps at the state of Regina’s bedroom when they walk in, her entire closet haphazardly scattered along the bedroom floor. The vanity is messy and Regina’s bed isn’t made, and Cady thinks she made a harsh judgment when she first laid her eyes on Regina only minutes earlier.

Regina, noticing Cady’s expression, laughs a bit awkwardly, which sounds, well, awkward, coming from her.

“I’m um,” She coughs, “My parents are moving back into this room.”

“Oh,” Cady mutters and nods her head, remembering that this bedroom once didn’t belong to the blonde, “Do you want some help packing everything up? Or just, moving it, I guess?”

Regina’s head cocks and her eyebrows furrow.

“That would be really nice of you, yeah.”

_That would be really nice of you._

Cady hasn’t felt nice in a while. Nice feels good, she thinks.

-

When Regina didn’t come back to school after it happened, the rumors went crazy. Whenever she heard people talking about it, her lungs would scream and she had to fight every muscle in her body to shout that it wasn’t about Regina. That Aaron lost his life, _saving_ Regina, and that if anything they should be talking about _him_. That the smart, and funny, and cute, and _nice_ , boy from across district lines who just wanted to play soccer at North Shore was buried in the ground, and that everyone owed it to him to not make his death about someone else.

The day Regina comes back, Cady doesn’t expect the whole school to go silent. The moment Regina walks in, all pink jeans and her leather jacket and her louboutins, the world feels like it’s going to stop. She thinks you could hear a pin drop in the hallway, and when she thinks Regina is going to burst from all the stares she says, “If you want to sign my cast, make an appointment. If not, carry on with your life,” and she knows Regina is back. The clicking of Regina’s heels again brings everyone back to the real world and the meaningless high school chatter resumes. Cady doesn’t take her eyes off Regina. She watches Regina take a deep breath of what looks like relief at the response of everyone taking their attention away from her, and Regina’s eyes dart around the hall before connecting with Cady’s. The blonde shoots her a small smile, and though it looks convincing, Cady can see in Regina’s eyes that she’s not all there. Cady returns a small smile of her own and a wave, and Regina just turns and heads to her own locker, a spot six months ago that Cady would’ve been waiting for her at anyway.

She thinks maybe Regina isn’t back.

-

She went back to eating lunch with Janis and Damian after it happened. They didn’t accept her with open hearts at first, but arms were all she needed and that was one thing they wouldn’t deny her. Damian forgave her the first time she cried on his shoulder, and it only took Janis till the third. The fourth time, Janis and Damian apologized to Cady themselves, because in reality, they were the ones that had dragged her into the whole mess in the first place. She never expected them to apologize. She was the one who took it too far, her and Regina. But still, Cady thought that was nice.

When Regina didn’t show up to school for the fifth consecutive day, Karen and Gretchen showed up at their lunch table. It was sad, the way Gretchen seemed like a puppy who had lost its owner, and Damian was obsessed with Karen anyway so it wasn’t a big deal, but Cady still couldn’t make eye contact with them for a week until one day Gretchen pulled her aside.

“Cady,” Gretchen looked nervous, “Are we okay?”

Cady wanted to cry. She spent the last six months using this girl to ruin her best friend’s life, couldn’t even look her in the eyes, and _she_ was asking they were okay.

“Gretchen-”

“Because I don’t know if you’re mad at me, or-or if I did something that upset you, but-”

“Gretchen!”

The darker haired girl went silent, and Cady hated the way she looked so small.

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“But I-”

“No,” Cady let out a shaky breath, “I’m the one who messed up. I used you, and I used our friendship, and it was a really shitty thing to do and now I don’t know how to fix anything or how I can make it up to you, but I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything and I’m sorry that I made you feel like you owed _anything_ to me still because you don’t. You’re so much better than the rest of us.”

Cady knew she was crying by the end of it, and Gretchen just hugged her in that Gretchen way and she knew things were going to be okay.

“I just want to be friends again.” Gretchen said.

Cady thought she could do that.

-

The day Regina returns to school, Cady dreads lunch all day. She spends first period history debating whether she should just text Regina and invite her to sit with them, and she spends second period english trying to formulate a text that is equal parts genuine and equal parts pity. Third period she has _calculus_ and she’s too caught up in her plot to get out of it that she can’t even think about Regina.

She skipped calculus for four days straight and no one said anything to her but in history Kevin pulls her aside and tells her that, “Norbury has some important _bizz_ to discuss, and she would appreciate it if you graced the class with your presence.”

Cady doesn’t believe that Ms. Norbury said, “bizz,” but Cady thinks she must be pretty desperate to get Cady back into class if she goes through Kevin G so she decides to return the favor.

As soon as she walks in Ms. Norbury calls Cady over, and even though the Burn Book scandal was resolved, Cady still feels a wave of guilt wash over her every time she looks at her.

“Nice of you to join us, Cady.”

Cady fidgets with her hands, the nerves of the room and the conversation alike getting to her.

“I-I heard you wanted to speak to me?”

“Yes, well, considering you haven’t been to class at all this week, I had to go through snail mail to get to you.”

Cady nods her head and bites her lip, not really sure how to carry on the conversation. Luckily, Ms. Norbury continues for her.

“I’ve never had a student jump so quickly from passing to failing, to passing, to failing _again_. I didn’t really think that was possible.”

“You know what they say, high school math defies all that is logic..or something like that.” Cady tries an awkward laugh, but it falls flat.

“Something,” Ms. Norbury says, “I have some non-negotiable extra credit for you to complete to get your grade back up.”

Ms. Norbury pulls a folder out of her drawer and hands it to Cady.

“I need you to go to the library and make copies for me.”

“That’s it?” Cady asks. It seems too easy to bring a failing grade back to passing.

“That’s it. I need a lot of copies, so it might take you all period.” Ms. Norbury winks when Cady gives her a confused glance, and it starts to make sense for her.

 _Oh,_ Cady thinks. She nods her head, “Um, thank you.” She gets out. The late bell rings and Ms. Norbury hands her a hall pass.

“Better get started.”

Cady walks out of the classroom and heads in the direction of the library. She opens the folder to find a stack of worksheets inside and a post-it with a note that says, _Have these completed and back to me by next class._ Cady heaves a sigh of relief. She doesn’t think she did anything to deserve the kindness that Ms. Norbury has awarded her with, but she’s grateful, nonetheless.

She’s done with half the stack by the time the lunch bell rings, but once it does she realizes that she completely forgot to text Regina. She also realizes that she doesn’t even feel like facing the cafeteria in the first place, so she makes a split decision and finds herself in front of the bathroom that she used to eat lunch in before it all happened.

She feels a strange sense of calm as she walks through the door, but that calm washes away when she hears a quick sniffle and a toilet flush. This bathroom is completely empty every day except for the _one_ time she truly needs it. She’s annoyed until she looks at the feet under the stall and sees the pink heels.

“Regina?” She calls out. There’s some rummaging around in the stall and then the door opens and Regina walks out. Regina’s a good actress, but Cady can tell that the blonde had been crying.

“Hey,” Regina mumbles, “You come here often?” She tries to joke, but the air is stiff and the joke falls flat under grimy fluorescent lights.  

“Are you okay?” 

Cady thinks it’s a dumb question to ask, because Regina obviously _isn’t_ , but she doesn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, I just-I didn’t realize how hard it would be to come back.”

“I know the feeling,” Cady says. She leans back against one of the sinks, her backpack falling to the floor by her feet, “It felt like everyone was watching me when I did. Waiting to see how I would react to anything and everything.”

Regina laughs, but it feels cold in the moment.

“I’ve been hiding out in here since second period,” Regina says, “ _Everyone_ was whispering. It was like I died and came back to life.”

Cady stills.

“Except _you_ didn’t die.”

Regina clucks her tongue, her heels filling the stale silence of the bathroom as she turns her back to Cady.

“Everyone would be better off if I did.”

“Regina-”

“C’mon, Cady. Don’t pretend like you haven’t thought it.”

They lock eyes for what seems like forever until Cady can’t take it anymore. She peels her eyes away and shoots off the sink, pacing as Regina sits down against the wall.

“I may have thought it but that doesn’t mean I want it, or would _ever_ want it. People care about you.”

“I’m not going to off myself,” Regina says this matter of fact, but Cady almosts misses it when she whispers, “I wouldn’t do that to him.”

“I know.” Cady comes to a standstill and Regina’s eyes shoot up to hers once again. Cady thinks it feels weird having Regina look up to her, so she moves into the empty space next to Regina on the floor. Regina rests her head against the wall and looks over to Cady.

“Do you?” She says. “I feel like everyone thinks I just used him because he was hot or popular or whatever. I loved him. _So_ much. That day you came over was the first time I’d gotten out of bed since it happened.”

The words come as a shock to Cady. She thought a lot of things, but not once did she ever think that Regina was actually in love with Aaron. She still didn’t get it though.

“Why did you cheat on him?”

Regina sighs, and Cady can tell as she tries to discreetly wipe a tear.

“I’m not-” Regina lets out a shaky breath, “I know I present myself as this, cold, confident, queen bee, but-I still felt like I had something to prove. To feel desirable, I guess. I don’t know.”

Cady sits on that for a moment.

“So the burn book..” She trails off.

“I probably just need a therapist.” Regina jokes, and though it’s weak, Cady is able to push out a small smile.

“Probably.” She states.

“I guess I’m just as insecure as everyone else.”

Regina’s gaze falls into her lap, and Cady takes a look around the bathroom. She remembers the terror she felt on the first day, the way being thrown into an environment so different from the one she was used to, left to googling things like, “How to find a lunch table.”

She was pretty close to asking Siri how to make friends when Damian and Janis came knocking.

“I know we didn’t become friends for the right reasons, but there was a point where I really enjoyed being around you. You are desirable. People like you when you’re not making them cower in fear.” Cady bumps Regina’s shoulder and the blonde cracks a smile for a second.

“Remember when I bought you those heels?” Regina asks. Cady snorts.

“I remember not being able to walk in them for a week.”

Regina looks over at Cady and her expression is serious, Cady’s newfound humor in the situation dissipating. She was so happy when Regina bought them for her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew something wasn’t right, but just for a moment, she felt like she was doing what a normal teen-aged girl was supposed to be doing. She was crushed when Gretchen told her the truth.

“I told Gretchen that I just thought it was funny because you couldn’t walk in them, but that wasn’t true.”

Oh. Cady furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

“Then why did you buy them for me?”

“You looked really cute in them,” Regina shrugs, “You got so excited when we tried them on at the store and it was the first genuine moment I’d had with a friend in so long. It felt right.”

“That was really nice of you.”

“Don’t say that,” Regina shakes her head, “I wasn’t nice to you.”

“I wasn’t nice to you either, Regina.” Cady says, “None of us were nice.”

The bell rings, startling Cady enough to jump a little in her spot.

“Are you going to come to physics?” Cady asks as she stands up, “I haven’t had a lab partner for the last month.”

Regina smiles and Cady thinks they’re going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! if you want to chat about anything please feel free to visit my tumblr @ briittanysnow :') part 2 should be up relatively soon.


End file.
